Primeval: Paradox
by nphillips0115
Summary: Anomalies have begun opening in the United States, unleashing creatures from the past into the present. Join a team of scientists, soldiers, engineers and odd bystanders as they work to save both the past and the present.
1. Chapter 1

It was quiet. Peacefully so. In a branch on tree within a forest, an owl watched as the creatures of the night began to move, eager to find food.

Only to be surprised when a tiny silver thing flew through the air, followed by three boys on motorcycles, all holding nets.

"I'm gonna catch it," remarked one of the boys.

"No you're not, Andrew," replied another.

As the boys raced through, the failed to notice the section of the forest they were in was much brighter than the rest.

Nor did they here the sound of leaves crunching behind them.

After a few minutes of chasing, one of the boys, Andrew, finally snagged the drone in his net. He soon drove out to a clearing, accompanied by his two companions.

In the clearing were a trio of girls, one of whom was holding a remote. The one holding the remote looked impressed at Andrew, obviously taking pleasure from the fact that he was the one who caught the drone. The other boys received glares of disapproval from the pther girls, though their expressions soon softened.

"Well," remarked the girl with the remote," I believe that is the third time my man has caught this drone."

"Stop rubbing it in, Monica," replied one of the other two.

"Oh really? Then do you want to have a fourth round?"

Before they could get an answer, however, they herd a growl coming from the forest. Turning toward the source of the sound, the teens could only see blackness.

Nervous, the teens quickly took out flash lights and began slowly approaching the sound.

"Go away!" shouted Andrew, trying to intimidate whatever made the noise.

He received a loud bellow in response, before hearing the sound of crunching leaves, which grew fainter over time.

Monica turned toward her boyfriend.

"Great job, tiger," she told him

Andrew could only smile at this.

Then another growl filled the air.

Andrew turned around, clearly angry whatever had growled, ruining his moment.

Only for a large beast to jump right at him, knocking him down. The creature proceeded to use the opportunity to begin mauling the boy.

The remaining teens screamed and made a break for it, except for Monica, who shined her flashlight at the beast's eyes.

Agitated, the beast snarled at her, giving her a nice view of its jaws.

Along with the two long, knife-like teeth inside of them.

Surprised, Monica responded by throwing her flashlight at the beast, which surprised it and caused it to lose its grip on her man.

Then it turned toward Monica, snarled, and pounced at the now screaming girl.

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 **AN: Welcome to my new series. This is my Christmas gift to all of my fans. Next chapter will be up soon, but enjoy the prolog for now.**

 **Though, before you ask, the beast is NOT Smilodon or Thylacosmilus.**

 **Read and Review. This is Flameal15k, signing off.**


	2. Cleaning up the Mess

As Madeline stepped out of the truck, she could already see that the vultures had beaten to the scene.

News vans were parked just outside the forest, with teams already fighting each other for the right to interview the victims. Most of them were too busy arguing with each other to notice her arrival, but those who had instantly backed off. The average lawman (or woman) they would challenge, even if they knew they could not win, but she was different. These carrion birds knew she was not to be messed with. Already, most of them had backed off. Her subordinates were already busy getting the rest away from her targets.

At a glance, this case didn't seem to be something worthy of her attention. A classic animal mauling, albeit one with the good fortune to have all of the victims survive to tell the tale. Even the fact the supposed culprit was not known from the area was not really that worrisome - animal smuggling and wildlife displacement could account for an errant predator in the area. Yet the police call about this incident was...odd. Reportedly, the phone had on and off lost connection during the cry for help. Additionally, the caller had reported something causing everyone else's phones to go haywire, along with their compasses.

These matched up with something a friend of hers had been talking about for some time. True, he had sounded crazy when he had talked about it, but perhaps there was some truth in his arguement. Perhaps this was validation of his claims? Only one way to find out.

As she neared the six teens involved in the animal attack, though, she found that two reporters had already beaten her to the scene. A brunette man and a red head - his partner, presumably. Annoyed at their lack of respect, she fished a whistle out of one of her pockets and blew it. The victims almost kept out of their skin at the noise, as did the reporters, who promptly turned to yell at her.

The harsh language they wished to throw at her died in their throats, however, when they saw her. The reverse was also true with Madeline, who found herself unable to berate them.

One does not berate their friends for chance meetings, after all.

For a moment, both parties were silent. Then, at last, the man spoke.

"Maddy...what are you doing here?"

"I got a call from the department and a friend, Colton. I assume you and Stephanie got a tip-off?"

"Yeah...and I assume he was the same friend you were talking about?"

"Presumably," sighed Maddy. Then she looked at their recording gear.

Instantly, Colt shielded the equipment with his body. "Oh no. We're friends, but I am not giving this up. Not for you."

Behind Madeline, a police officer moved into position, preparing, if necessary, to remove the duo from the crime scene. A gesture from his superior, however, brought him to a halt. "Relax. You can have this story-"

"What?!"

"But I expect you to give a full transcript to Officer Wilkes," she continued, gesturing to the man behind her."

For a moment, the duo looked unsure how to receive the offer. Then Stephanie broke the silence. "Fine." Then she turned her attention to the gathered teams. "As we were just asking, your names, please?"

"I'm Monica," began the most battered girl, "and these are Ryan, Kelsey, Laura, Dominic, and Andrew." The last was directed at the most battered of the boys, who clearly seemed haggered and terrified. He had noticeable gashes on the back of his neck, thankfully not deep ones. He would like need a doctor to check on those for a fill recovery, but he was definitely going to survive this night. Monica, meanwhile, had similar injuries above her ribs, though those had been covered with huge wads of bandages. Madeline couldn't help but smile at that sight - clearly, these people knew how to dress wounds.

Now wasn't the time to think about that, though - she needed to know what had happened. And that meant asking them directly - no reporter questioning.

Clearing her throat, Madeline began her questioning. "Thank you for the introductions. So, according to your call, and what your friends, dorm mates, and family have stated, you went into the forest to go drown hunting, right?"

"Correct."

"And you said you were attacked by a...mountain lion?"

"No...yes...well, it looked like one, but it had fur like a leopard."

"Can you describe it further?"

"Well, it looked kinda like a civet...and it was the size of a coyote...and it had...big...teeth."

"Big teeth?"

"Yeah, like a saber tooth cat...but not as muscular."

"Oh, really?"

All the while, Wilkes, Stephanie, and Colt worked to jot down/record everything they said, unwilling to lose out on valuable information.

"Yeah. It looked like a mountain lion...but it was the size of a coyote...with the fur pattern of a jaguar...and it had big teeth."

"Big teeth?"

"Yeah. They looked kinda like a saber toothed tiger's teeth, but way smaller."

"...Okay...And you fought it off, then called the police."

"We did, yes. But the call kept dropping, and at one point, we ran into this spot where our phones glitched up."

"How so."

"Well, one spot of the screen seemed to become a vortex, and everything else seemed to get sucked into it. We also had some compasses that kept focusing on a point that seemed to be where all of the vortexes were."

"I see...did you see anything that might have caused that?"

The girl deflated at this question. "No. We thought about it, but we decided not to go looking around after we got attacked. Too dangerous."

"Wise choice. Now, if there is nothing you'd like to talk about, I'll leave you to the reporters, if you are okay with that."

"...Well, we do have one question."

"And that is?"

"Who are you with? The CIA?"

For a moment, Madeline clammed up, unable to answer. But that was only a moment, and she soon recovered. "I used to be, but not now. I'm with the FBI. And before you ask, no, this isn't some government conspiracy. Thee is nothing here the government is trying to cover up."

"...okaaaay."

"Well, I need to go. May you have a nice day, and recover swiftly."

With that, Madeline began to amble back to her car. Unfortunately, the amount of reporters trying to get in on the story had grown since she had arrived, and a veritable blockade of them now occupied her path. It would take some time to get back to reach her vehicle.

Indeed, she was only halfway there when Colt and Stephanie caught up to her.

"...Used to be with the CIA? I thought you still were."

"Yeah, but I was doing this for the FBI."

"...Good point. Still, how do you balance working as a CIA analyst and an Assistant Director for the FBI? Isn't that exhausting?"

"Yes, it is. You don't know how bad the nights can be. Not a lot of enjoyable things in this line of work."

"Unsurprising...is there anything the feds are trying to cover up here?"

"No. This is something I am trying to cover up personally."

"...Exact wording is your forte."

"You flatter me."

"You're welcome. So, do you really think that something with saber teeth attacked them?"

"I'm not sure. You think it was a saber toothed tiger?"

"Too big. Those things are what would happen if a lion dated a bear. Maybe it's a _Thylacosmilus?"_

"Unlikely. My kids showed me a picture of that thing once - they never mentioned their attacker as having giant growths on its lower jaws. The pouched saber has bony sheaths for its fangs."

"Well, then I got nothing...well, except for the fact Wyatt might actually have been right."

"Oh, did I just hear what I thought I heard?"

The owner of that statement was a man in his mid fifties, leaning against Madeline's car. He wore a Metallica shirt, jeans, and a Sun Devil Cap, which barely managed to cover his messy black hair. The stubble of a well trimmed beard covered his face, giving him a rather intimidating appearance...at least, to some. The FBI manager and reporters, however, saw him only as a friend.

"Yes, you did," intoned said director. "Looks like we found a creature from the past here."

"Oh really?"

"Really. Though I am mostly sure that it is just an oddly small mountain lion."

"Oh please. I am sure it is something else."

"Talk all you want, you'll soon find that Colt was correct."

"You too sound like an old married couple," deadpanned Stephanie.

"Um, we're both married to other people. And there's no way she could compete with my wife in bed."

Madeline bristled with rage at that remark. "Oh really? I think I am good enough in that particular field. Besides, you are half the man my husband in, public and private."

"Is that a challenge?"

"No. Now can we please get back to focusing on this problem? Someone got attack by an animal that doesn't match up with anything I've heard of, and somehow, you managed to get the FBI and, by extension, me, involved in this. So tell me, what do we do now?"

"..Now, we got into the forest, and we hunt it down."

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 **AN: IT LIVES!**

 **Finally got around to updating this story. Anyway, here's our introduction to the cast. Just a heads up, not everyone has been shown yet. Others won't show up until the second 'episode' of this story.**

 **So, Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!**


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